Juggernaut Drive
by Random Rambles98462
Summary: During the final battle against Acnologia, Natsu unveils what he has hidden underneath his bandages. And it shock everyone who's ever known the pink haired dragon slayer, and the battle to save Fairy Tail, soon becomes the battle to save Natsu Dragneel


_Hey guys, it's Rambles here bringing you another one-shot! Man I love writing these things. This one is just a bit of fun, one, because I love the Juggernaut drive from Highschool DxD, and yes, that is where it is from. And two, I just love writing one-shots. There's something quite fun about creating this little bubble during a moment from the series, one that is extremely unlikely to be true, but is just fun to make all the same._

 _Anyway, enough of me rambling, lets get on with the story! Don't forget to leave me review telling me what you thought!_

 **Juggernaut Drive**

 **Description: During the final battle against Acnologia, Natsu unveils what he has hidden underneath his bandages. And it shock everyone who's ever known the pink haired dragon slayer, as the battle to save their guild, becomes the battle to save Natsu Dragneel.**

The Fairy Tail mages were gathered outside their guild hall, the last line of defence against the invaders.

They'd defeated the first wave of soldiers from the Alvarez, just barely.

With a great effort they'd held their own against the second, third and just narrowly the fourth.

That was when _he_ showed up.

Acnologia.

Zeref was stood, calmly observing the battle from a cliff overlooking the ruined town.

"It seems that the end is coming much faster than I anticipated, Natsu" He said. "How will this battle turn out, will this dragon king festival end in the destruction of an era, or the death of the dragon king?"

The Fairy Tail wizards had all tried their best, but they were exhausted and extremely low on magic energy. Even with Fairy Heart, there wasn't much they could do.

"Were all going to die!" One of the gathered wizards screamed as they all tried to avoid a swipe from Acnologia's claws.

"Holding off an empire was bad enough! But him! That's just not possible!" Max cried, despite his reassuring from Warren he couldn't stop the doubt that flowed through his mind.

"Not yet" Natsu said, his body littered with wounds from the long battle. "We're not dead yet"

"But we're not gonna last much longer!" Came the reply as the group scattered once again.

"NO!" Natsu shouted, punching the ground beneath him "So long as I have breath in my body, then I'm going to fight!"

"Natsu…" Lucy whispered.

"So as long as we're still moving, then we fight!" Natsu said, looking back to his fellow wizards.

"Natsu has a point" Came the reply from a certain auburn haired man

"Gildarts?" Came a voice. Even the ace from Fairy Tail, who'd shown up pretty late to the party, hadn't emerged unscathed.

"I know that that dragon uses our fears against us, trust me, I fought it by myself, damn thing nearly killed me. But if we can stand up. Then we can win this!" He shouted, raising his fist into the air.

" **DESTRUCTION!** " Came a bellow from the sky as Acnologia circled the skies above the city

The mages of Fairy Tail, inspired by the words of Natsu and Gildarts, easily the two strongest mages in Fairy Tail, decided to fight back, one last effort.

"Alright everyone!" Cana yelled as they all split into groups "Try to avoid staying in large clusters! Let's swarm this motherfucker!"

With a cry the mages all unleashed their best attacks, throwing everything they had at Acnologia.

"Can we really win this?" Mavis said quietly, she knew that everyone had the will to fight. But against a dragon, regular mages were powerless.

" **Destruction!** " Acnologia shouted as he turned and dove towards the ground, aiming towards Natsu's group, which just so happened to have Natsu and Laxus in it, the two dragon slayers bracing themselves, before firing off a unison raid of fire and lightning.

While this did phase the dragon slightly, it did nothing to stop him.

The dragon struck the ground, sending out a massive shock wave that swept the mages off their feet.

Acnologia then let out a mighty roar, it shaking the buildings, those that were still standing at least.

Natsu slowly struggled to his feet, seeing his friends around him, few attempting to stand, same as him, others groaning in pain, and even one or two completely still.

"No…" Natsu said to himself "I failed"

His fist clenched as an image of Igneel flashed through his mind, his body torn in half and nearly obliterated.

 _I tried to train… to protect everyone…_

He could sense people fleeing, mages out of power helping anyone they could escape.

 _But it wasn't enough…_

The cries of mages begging friends to wake up, when it was clear that all traces of life had left them.

 _It will never be enough…_

Natsu thought to his right arm, the one that hung limp at his side, his bones having been broken in the collision with the giant dragon.

 _I have no choice…_

With his good hand he slowly reached for the bandages that covered his arm.

 _I'm sorry everyone…_

With the last of his effort, Natsu tore the bandages away, revealing the glowing red magic circle underneath.

Almost immediately Natsu was swamped with a surge of power, his magic energy, his second origin, and even something beyond that, filling with raw power.

At the moment the power hit Natsu, everyone felt it, their eyes all being drawn towards the pink haired fire breather.

"Natsu?" Lucy asked.

Natsu didn't respond, as he felt the crimson scales growing along his entire body.

" _It has begun_ "

" **I, who shall awaken** " A voice came from the magic circle.

"Natsu what's going on?" Erza called

"Natsu! Answer us, Please!" Lisanna shouted, looking towards her childhood love.

" **I am the crimson dragon who burned away the principle of domination** " The voice said once again as the scales finished covering his body, before he began to grow, his body beginning to change, his eyes now pure red he glared up at Acnologia.

" **What is this power?!** " Acnologia said, staring down at the dragon slayer.

Natsu's entire form was then bathed in flames, the heat from the flames could be felt for miles, even Zeref at his clifftop, was beginning to sweat from the heat.

"Natsu…" The black wizard murmured.

"Natsu my son, talk to me!" Makerov called to the dragon slayer

" **I incinerate the infinite. And spread the ashes of the dream** " the voice could be heard from within the flames, as Natsu's form became less and less human. Two huge, crimson wings could be seen sprouting from his back.

Natsu's hands became huge claws, his head became elongated and dragon like. His skin was no longer visible as scales covered the mass of his body.

A tail sprouted from the end of his back as his body became closer and closer to completing his transformation.

"This… power…" Gajeel mumbled "But is that… still Salamander?"

" **I will become the crimson dragon of domination** " The voice declared, now coming from Natsu's dragonic jaw.

"Natsu-san" Wendy said, her eyes staring in horror "NATSU-SAN!"

"No… Natsu" Mirajane said, looking on as the flames began to fade.

" **I shall obliterate you in a sea of infernal purgatory! Juggernaut Drive!** " Natsu roared as the flames faded, revealing the huge, crimson dragon standing where Natsu had once been stood.

" **Juggernaut Drive!** " Acnologia exclaimed " **That technique is supposed to be extinct!** "

Natsu let out a roar, one much more fierce than Acnologia's, the crimson dragon locking eyes with the black dragon of the apocalypse.

" **No matter what, I shall destroy you!** " Acnologia roared as he inhaled, before unleashing a mighty dragon roar towards Natsu.

The attack struck Natsu, with a huge smoke cloud enveloping the dragon.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed "Natsu talk to me!"

The dust cloud was then blown away by a gust of wind generated by Natsu flapping his wings, revealing the huge iron shields that had appeared in front of the dragon.

"Gajeel?" Levy asked, the solid script mage looking up at the dragon slayer she was currently supporting on her shoulder.

"That wasn't me" Gajeel said, as everyone stared at what had once been Natsu.

Acnologia snarled at the dragon, before diving towards it, the two dragons colliding in a massive burst of power, completely decimating the town and turning it into a huge crater, with only the two grappling dragons and the Fairy Tail mages, whom Mavis had protected with a well timed Fairy Sphere.

Natsu and Acnologia were locked in intense combat, with Acnologia trying to destroy his crimson opponent, but Natsu was easily holding his ground as the two dragons slammed their heads against one another.

" **I don't know how you unlocked the juggernaut drive** " Acnologia growled as the two dragons butted heads once again " **But no matter what I will destroy you just like I murdered the fire king!** "

Natsu's eyes then narrowed and the crimson dragon suddenly, with a burst of unknown strength, forced the apocalyptic dragon backwards.

Acnologia was caught off guard by this, and in an attempt to escape, flapped his massive wings and attempted to take flight.

Natsu however, was not about to allow Acnologia the chance to escape, so he did the only thing he knew how.

He locked his jaw around Acnologia's tail.

Natsu then swung the dragon around, slamming Acnologia into the ground.

As the dust cloud began to settle Natsu then took to the skies, flapping his great wings he looked down at Acnologia, before the mighty dragon began to inhale.

"Oh god" Gray said.

"Is he...?" Max asked, not wanting to finish his question

"HE'S CHARGING UP A DRAGONS ROAR!" Kinanna screamed.

"Natsu my son!" Makerov pleaded "If you can still understand us, then stop this right now!" He begged, hopping that Natsu would hear him.

But it didn't work.

Natsu just roared, unleashing the almighty column of fire down at Acnologia, the blast striking the downed dragon and bathing the area in a huge, fiery explosion.

"I won't be able to maintain this much longer" Mavis said to makerov quietly, Fairy Sphere was holding for the moment, but that was only thanks to Fairy Heart, if that was damaged, then it wouldn't take very long for the first master to run out of magic energy.

The Fairy Tail wizards watched as the flames covered the sphere, many of the huddling in groups, waiting for the flames to break through and incinerate them all.

"Oh wow" A voice suddenly said, making the wizards look around "The Juggernaut drive, I thought that magic had long been since made extinct"

The wizards all looked around confused, before suddenly spying a small child stood on top of the dome.

"What is that kid doing up there?" Gray asked "Does he have a death wish?"

"Boy!" Gildarts called up to him "Unless you want to get fried like a leg of southern chicken, I suggest you run!"

"You need not worry" The boy said, not looking away from the sea of flames, that were slowly starting to die down "Fire does not affect me"

"What is he talking about?" Warren mumbled.

"I suppose I should explain" The boy stated, before suddenly phasing through Fairy Sphere and landing on the ground in front of the wizards.

"Who is this kid?" One of the members of Fairy Tail whispered.

"You said you knew that magic" Makerov stated, his eyes narrowing at the small boy, who, apart from the demonic red eyes, looked like a spitting image of Natsu when he was younger. "What is it?"

"Oh that's easy enough" The boy answered "What you are seeing right now, is a type of magic even rarer than ancient magic, this dates back to the dawn of magic itself. The Juggernaut drive"

Mavis' eyes widened as she heard the boy speak those words. _How did I not realize it?_ She thought to herself.

"Juggernaut drive?" Lucy asked

"Yes. It is the most powerful form of magic there is, for it transforms the user into a physical dragon, as you can see" He explained, before gesturing to the sky, just as all the flames were extinguished by Acnologia taking flight and rushing towards Natsu, with the two dragons colliding in midair.

"This isn't making any sense" Erza stated "Explain"

"You know the origin story of magic do you not?" The boy asked, not looking at Erza.

"All magic originated from the one magic" Erza responded, rather annoyed at the trivial question.

"Wrong" The boy said in a matter of fact tone. "The 3 creatures that spawned slayers all contributed to human growth. The gods gave man intelligence, Devils gave man emotions, fear. And it was dragons who gave humans magic. All magic spawns from Dragon slayer magic. What you humans refer to as the one magic is simply the original form of dragon slayer magic"

"Just who are you?!" Erza snapped "And what is your business here?!"

"My name is Natsu" The boy said, his voice conveying no emotion as he continued to watch Natsu and Acnologia battle in mid air.

"What?" Came the cries of the Fairy Tail wizards.

"How is this possible?" Gray asked "Natsu isn't some kid, he's currently that dragon!" He snapped.

"That is true" Child-Natsu said "And what I said is true as well. For you see, we are both Natsu. Two sides of the same coin, as your expression goes"

"Wait a minute" Lucy whispered "You're-"

"E.N.D?" Child-Natsu responded "That is correct. I am Etherious Natsu Dragneel, and I came here today to restore the two of us back into our true being, but I see that this is going to be difficult"

"So your E.N.D?" Gray asked "This is what my pops wanted me to kill?"

"So you are Silver's son?" E.N.D questioned, looking back at Gray "Yes, I see the resemblance, I would give up on that goal, for one, you wouldn't have succeeded even if you tried, and two, if all goes well, the the being known as E.N.D will cease to exist, and all that will be left is simply… Natsu Dragneel"

"If you know so much about the Juggernaut drive" Mirajane began "Then can you tell us a way to bring Natsu back?" She asked.

"It's the manly thing to do!" Elfman declared, before getting a timely smack from Evergreen.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple" E.N.D said. "There's no way to force a reverse transformations. The fate of Natsu will be either one of two outcomes" E.N.D explained

"Which are?" Lucy asked nervously

"Option 1, Natsu defeats Acnologia before running out of magic energy" E.N.D began "This is the best option, as accomplishing his task means that upon running out of power, he will promptly change back into his human form"

"And the second?" Lisanna prompted

"If he is unable to defeat Acnologia before he runs out of Magic power, then he will continue to fight, drawing his power from his own life force until he dies" E.N.D finished.

"No…" Lucy and Lisanna gasped.

"Then we have to help Natsu defeat Acnologia!" Erza declared, earning a resounding cheer from the Fairy Tail mages.

"Are you all prepared to die?" E.N.D asked.

"What?" Gajeel snapped "What the hell kind of question is that?!"

"Think about it logically" E.N.D stated, his gaze never leaving the dueling dragons as he spoke. "Your all wounded, extremely low on magic energy and out of all of you here, only 3 of you stand even a remote chance of actually harming Acnologia, all you would do is get in his way, or, more likely, get killed by Natsu for interfering with his battle"

"That's not true!" Levy spoke up "Natsu would never hurt any of us"

"Would Natsu destroy an entire countryside?" E.N.D questioned, turning his head slightly to look at the solid script mage.

"I… No…" Levy stammered.

"Then who do you think caused all of the damage?" The etherious asked, gesturing to the area around them, apart from Fairy Sphere, miles of countryside had been decimated, completely incinerated.

"Then what do we do!" Makerov snapped, surprising everyone "I will not just sit back and watch my children die!"

"I'm afraid there's little else we can do" E.N.D said sadly.

The wizards watched as Natsu charged Acnologia, the crimson dragon biting down on the black dragons right arm, before, in an ironic scene, tearing the limb from its socket.

The father took the left arm, so the son shall take the right.

Acnologia roared in pain as its limb was forcefully removed, before turning around and slashing Natsu across the face with it's remaining claw with enough force to knock him out of the sky.

The two dragons crashed into the ground before both standing.

" **You brat**!" Acnologia roared, blood dripping from where his right arm used to be. " **You will pay for this! Even worse than that weakling Igneel!** " Natsu just roared at Acnologia before charging, his two claws reaching for the black dragons throat.

Acnologia tried to fend Natsu off, swiping with his remaining claw and even with his tail, but Natsu deflected them, his claws tearing at Acnologia, grabbing hold of the dragons scales and brutally ripping them from Acnologia's body.

Natsu then reared his claw back, it being covered in a dark red mist before punching Acnologia in the face.

"Wait, that wasn't fire Natsu just used there" Gajeel said "And earlier in the fight he somehow used my iron to protect himself"

"That is the beauty of Juggernaut drive" E.N.D explained. "Any form of magic he has come into contact with he can replicate and utilise as he sees fit. Should he survive his transformation, then he will carry this ability over to his human form. Though it will be much weaker than in dragon form of course"

"Natsu… Please just stop…" Lucy whimpered "I can't watch you die just to protect all of us"

"This isn't good" E.N.D said "Natsu is starting to run low on magic energy. He has to end the battle soon or there's no hope of him returning"

Natsu, as if hearing his counterpart stomped towards Acnologia, who was much more sluggish now that poison was flowing through his veins.

Natsu roared, several huge bolts of lightning firing off of him as he did so, many of which nearly struck Fairy Sphere.

By this point Fairy Sphere was beginning to lose, as Mavis struggled to maintain the divine shield.

The huge dragon then walked forward, shadows wrapping around Acnologia to pin the dragon to the ground, Natsu raised his claw, before slamming it into Acnologia's gut. He then repeated this with his other claw, but he also covered his claw in light to do more damage, causing even more pain to Acnologia.

This continued on for several strikes, with Natsu pummeling the dragon further and further into the ground.

" **DESTRUCTION**!" Acnologia suddenly roared, breaking hold of the binds that held it down, he shot forward, headbutting Natsu in the chest, surprising the dragon, before attempting to bite Natsu's neck.

"NATSU!" Came the respective shouts of the Fairy Tail wizards, who saw Acnologia's teeth get closer and closer to Natsu's unprotected neck.

Everything seemed to slow down as Acnologia was about to land the killing blow…

Only for Natsu to grab hold of Acnologia's jaw with his claws, before straining his muscles to push the black dragon back and away from his neck.

Natsu roared as he shoved Acnologia away, the black dragon of the apocalypse landing on the ground Natsu stood over him, before gripping Acnologia's jaw he forced it open, pulling it further and further apart like something from a King Kong movie, before with a sickening pop, Natsu ripped Acnologia's jaw open.

Natsu then unleashed a point blank dragons roar down Acnologia's throat, as if imitating that one scene from Godzilla, burning Acnologia from the inside out and killing him.

Acnologia's warm, lifeless corpse dropped to the ground, steam drifting out of the charred dragon's broken jaw.

Natsu then turned to the sky, letting out a ferocious roar.

"What happens now?" Lucy asked as she looked towards E.N.D, as the etherious stood watching his counterpart.

"We run" E.N.D said, not looking at the Fairy Tail mages gathered behind him.

"No… You don't mean…" Lucy whispered.

E.N.D just nodded. "Natsu ran out of magic energy long before he killed Acnologia. Now… there is no way to save him"

"Natsu…" Lisanna mumbled under her breath "Please come back…"

It took several moments for what E.N.D had said to sink in, but when it did, no eyes were left dry.

"There must be something we can do" Elfman said "It's not very manly to let one's own comrade die!"

"Elfman is right" Alzack agreed "We all know that Natsu would do the same for any of us, so we have to save him!"

"I agree with Papa!" Askua said, grinning at the mages "Uncle Natsu promised to play with me once all this was over. So we have to save him" It seemed that these were the words that Fairy Tail needed to hear, to give them the tiniest glimmer of hope that maybe, there was chance that Natsu could be saved.

"Your courage is amendable" E.N.D stated "However I do not know if it will be enough. Granted I won't stop you from trying."

"Alright everyone" Makerov began "Today we are going to bring Natsu back, by whatever means necessary! He has risked his own life defending us more times then we can count, and so it is time that we do the same for him! For that is the power of family!"

Everyone cheered as Makerov finished his speech, before Makerov nodded to Mavis, who then cancelled the spell, causing Fairy Sphere to fade. "Good luck everyone" Mavis said and with that, the wizards charged.

Natsu turned towards the wizards as they all ran towards him. Before letting out a roar that made the ground shake.

"Don't they realise that by antagonising him all they'll do is drain his life force quicker?" E.N.D questioned as he watched them.

"They're all aware of that" Mavis said "But to them, family is worth the risk"

"It's strange that your not questioning how I can see you" E.N.D added "Seeing as I'm not part of your guild"

"But you are a part of Natsu" Mavis countered.

"Touche" E.N.D replied.

"Sorry about this Natsu" Cana said as she drew her cards, "But I can't let you die. Lightning cage!" She then threw her cards, which set up a cage of lightning around Natsu.

Natsu just glared at the card mage before swiping one of his claws, breaking the cage.

"Okay" Cana said, extremely surprised "I knew that wouldn't hold you forever, but I thought it would at least last a bit longer than that"

Natsu stomped towards the card mage, about to attack her when Gajeel and Laxus both dashed past the dragon, Gajeel hitting him with his iron dragon sword and Laxus attacked him with a lightning dragon's roar.

Natsu roared as these attacks struck him, doing only slight damage.

"Wendy!" Gajeel shouted

"Got it!" Wendy called back, as she swung her hands forward, covering Natsu in a swirling tornado of wind.

"Sky dragon slayer secret art" She began "Shattering light: SKY DRILL!" She shouted as then moved her arms in a counterclockwise fashion, closing the tornado around Natsu.

Of course, the intention of this attack had been to knock Natsu into the air, but when the tornado vanished it revealed a pissed off Natsu, stood in the exact same place and glaring at Wendy.

"Shit" Jet exclaimed "I know that dragons are tough, but to tank a dragon slayer's secret art? That's just not fair!"

"Dance my swords!" Erza shouted as she attacked Natsu with her pentagram sword, hoping to at least damage the dragon.

But the blades just shattered on Natsu's scales.

"They don't seem to understand" E.N.D stated "Dragon's are completely immune to magic unless it is another dragon's magic. All their doing is pissing him off"

Makerov then turned into his titan form, before grappling with the dragon, just as he had done against Acnologia back on Tenrou Island.

"Natsu my son!" Makerov pleaded "Your fight is over! Just return to us!"

Natsu just roared and shoved Makerov aside, sending the titan crashing against a cliff.

E.N.D then looked over to the smoldering corpse of Acnologia and thought for a minute. "Only a dragon can stop a dragon huh"

"What are you planning?" Mavis asked.

"I may have thought of a way to stop Natsu" E.N.D replied.

The childlike etherious then walked over to the corpse, before summoning a book in his hand.

"If I remember correctly, big bro told me that one of my guild mates was a necromancer. So I should be able to… Got it!" He said before a curse seal appeared underneath Acnologia and the dragon's corpse slowly rose to it's feet, it's snapped jaw swinging about as it stood up.

"Okay. That's step one, now for the difficult part" E.N.D mumbled

Acnologia then charged towards Natsu, catching the red dragon by surprise.

"How is Acnologia alive?" Droy shouted

"He isn't" E.N.D explained "I'm using necromancy to control his corpse, now back up, this could get messy"

While Acnologia's corpse and Natsu grappled, E.N.D then hovered up near to the dragons, turning to a different page in the book he held.

"Okay… Necromany… No… Explosions… Not really useful here… Sensitivity… Still not it, come on where is it- Aha! Found it! Macro!" He exclaimed, before activating the curse.

" **Halt** " He commanded and Natsu's body froze, the dragon struggling to continue attacking its opponent. Of course Acnologia's body also stopped moving, no longer needed it was shoved aside by a telekinetic blast from E.N.D.

"If you really want to try and get him back, nows your chance!" The etherious called back to the Fairy Tail wizards.

"Natsu!" Lucy called out to her partner "If you can understand us, then please come home! There is no guild without you! All the time I've spent since I joined the guild..."

Images flashed through her mind, memories of all the adventures she'd had since that fateful day in Hargeon

"Those times have been the happiest of my life. And it's because of you that they've been possible! I can't imagine my life without you Natsu… And… I… I love you"

The entire guild was silent, hearing Lucy's heartfelt confession to the dragon, who had seemed to stop struggling and was looking towards the blonde celestial mage.

" **Lu… cy…** " Came the strangled whisper from the dragon.

"Natsu?" Lucy questioned, tears brimming her eyes.

" **Lu… cy…** " Natsu said once again.

"I'm right here Natsu… Just please come home… return to us… if not for me, then for the guild that needs you" She pleaded.

Natsu opened his jaw, as if he was about to say something, when suddenly he let out a loud roar, and his claw lashed out, aimed towards Lucy.

The claw moved so fast, there was almost no time for Lucy to dodge, she braced herself for the impact, when…

"Uncle Natsu!" Came the stern voice of Askua, the young gunslinger having shot the dragon's claw with her cork gun. "You can't hurt Aunty Lucy! Aunty Lucy says that she loves you, and Papa told me that it's wrong to hurt the ones you love!"

Somehow the child's complaints had gotten to the dragon, as Natsu's claw had stopped just millimetres from hitting Lucy.

Natsu stumbled backwards, letting out a roar again, before sweeping his tail around, knocking most of the Fairy Tail mages off of their feet.

"This isn't working" E.N.D mumbled "There's only one thing I can think of left to try"

E.N.D then floated into the air, standing directly in front of Natsu's face "Natsu Dragneel" He said, causing the dragon to look right at him, only for E.N.D to surround the two of them in fire. "I am Etherious Natsu Dragneel, and today is the day that we were destined to reunite. But I can't do that if your a dragon. So snap out of it!"

Natsu just glared, before attempting to hit E.N.D with his claw. E.N.D just blocked by casting an explosion between the two of them.

"I expected more out of you Natsu" The etherious commented. "But I guess I'm going to have to fix this myself" With that E.N.D became a part of the flames burning around the two, which then condensed around Natsu before being absorbed into his scales.

 _Inside Natsu's mind_

Natsu was vaguely aware of what was going on, ever since he'd triggered that spell everything had gone blank, but he could still sort of feel what had been happening.

When he'd transformed his mind had blocked out the pain, but right now, everything hurt. His senses were dulled, all expect his pain. He could hear the muffled sounds of people calling to him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Everyone… Run…" He said.

"Your pathetic don't you know it?" A voice said, much clearer than the other voices he could hear.

"Who's there?" Natsu called out

"I'm you dumbass" E.N.D responded as he appeared in front of Natsu.

"Who are you calling a dumbass!" Natsu snapped

"You" E.N.D retorted. "I know that you wanted to protect everyone, but the juggernaut drive? That was your plan?"

"I had to protect everyone" Natsu responded.

"Yes, because nearly ripping the woman who professed her love for you in two is protecting everyone" E.N.D retorted.

"Lucy? I didn't hurt Lucy did I!" Natsu's eyes were wide with panic.

"Thankfully you didn't, but if you'd stopped a second later, that would have been a different story"

"I thought I heard Lucy saying something, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. In fact I can hear everyone's voices, but not what they're saying" The dragon slayer explained.

"Figures. Well I assume you know who I am"

"Yeah, I know. E.N.D" Natsu said.

"No need to sound so glum" E.N.D said, smirking "If anything this just means that you'll have more power to protect everyone. Hopefully us two merging should bring you out of this form, then hey, maybe you'll learn to control it. But I wouldn't go trying this again any time soon. I won't be around to stop you next time"

"Alright" Natsu said as he and E.N.D grinned at each other.

"See you later Natsu" E.N.D said as the two of them were both enveloped in light.

 _Back in the real world_

Natsu had been still for some time now, since those flames had faded the dragon had been motionless.

"Natsu?" Lucy asked, taking a tentative step towards the dragon.

At that very moment, the dragon shattered, revealing Natsu's form amongst the broken scales.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed as she ran towards him, Natsu lay there with his eyes closed.

"Oh god… Natsu!" Lucy said, tears streaming from her eyes as she held Natsu close to her, not wanting to let him go.

"Lu...cy…" Natsu mumbled, his eyes still closed.

"What is it Natsu?" The blonde asked, leaning closer to the dragon slayer in order to hear him speak.

"Hun...gry…" Natsu said before a smile crossed his face and a very loud rumbling was heard coming from his stomach.

Everyone stood silent for a minute, contemplating what had just happened.

Natsu had just returned from transforming into a fire breathing dragon, and his first request was for food?

Romeo stood there, trying to contain his sniggers, before they exploded into a full blown laugh. "That's Natsu-nii alright!" He declared.

This seemed to start a chain reaction, as one by one the other wizards all began to laugh heartily, some at the absurdity of the situation, others to relieve the stress and some for both reasons combined.

Natsu just lay there, a smile on his face as the sound of his guildmates laughter filled his ears. But while his senses were filled with the familiar scents of his guildmates, there was one he could sense that stood out.

It smelled like death.

Natsu looked up, past all of his guildmates to where he could see Zeref, stood in the same place he had been during the start of the battle against Acnologia, smiling.

"Natsu?" Lisanna questioned, making the dragon slayer look over at the youngest Strauss sibling.

"What is it Lisanna?" Natsu responded, smiling at his childhood friend

"Mira-nee said that she was going to cook you something to eat, is that alright?" She repeated, still smiling at Natsu.

"That would be a godsend" Natsu chuckled "Man, who knew turning into a dragon could make you so hungry, great way to burn off the calories" He joked.

"Don't you ever do something like that again!" Lucy exclaimed, still having not moved from where she was sat. "I can't lose you… not again" She whispered.

Natsu just looked up at Lucy, before wrapping his arms around her. "Don't worry Lucy, I'm not going anywhere" Natsu chose this moment to look back up at the cliff, but this time, Zeref was no longer there.

"Natsu" Erza said, standing over the dragon slayer and the blonde. "If your able to, do you think you could explain what happened?"

"Yeah" Natsu replied. "What did you want to know about first?"

"You can start with whatever the fuck the link is between you and E.N.D flamebrain" Gray snapped, he was quite pissed off, he'd been training to destroy E.N.D as per his father's last request, but to find out that the etherious was also his best friend? Gray didn't know what to believe anymore.

"I guess that makes sense" Natsu said simply, he wasn't in the mood for fighting Gray, he'd done enough fighting today.

"Well to start my story I guess I had better address the elephant in the room. I was actually born 400 years ago. Born as Natsu Dragneel, younger brother to Zeref Dragneel and the second child to the Dragneel family"

"Zeref… is your… brother?" Mavis questioned, remembering her encounters with the black wizard.

"Yup" Natsu replied, pausing to let that information sink in.

"As I was saying" He continued "Unfortunately at the time their was a deadly plague going around, I had it, my mother and father had it. Luckily the only person who didn't get sick from my family was Zeref. I only lived to be about 5 years old before I died." He paused, the painful memory of his death returning to him.

"That doesn't really explain anything" Erza commented. "If you died then, how are you here now?"

"You can thank Igneel for that" Natsu stated "Zeref two I guess"

"How do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"Well, Zeref preserved my body, in an attempt to find some way to bring me back to life, it's the reason why Ankhseram cursed him in the first place. Zeref managed to bring me back, but as an Etherious, which is how E.N.D was created."

"So how does Igneel fit into all of this?" It was an obvious question, but one everyone wanted to know.

"Well at some point I got cocky and challenged the fire dragon, I had been trying to prove that my Etherious were superior to dragons." Natsu paused, chuckling to himself

"Needless to say, we got destroyed. Igneel murder almost all of Tartarus, but stopped before he killed me. He never explained why, but for some reason he split my soul in two, the part that made me.. well me, Igneel somehow took and implanted it into a baby that he had found. The child hadn't lasted very long, but Igneel needed someone to pass his magic onto, in order to put an end to Zeref and Acnologia. What Igneel didn't take was returned to my book, which had been written to preserve me by any means necessary. So long as my book remains intact, I'm basically immortal" Natsu added.

"Immortal" Mavis mumbled, her thoughts turning to Zeref.

"from what I understand from my etherious counterpart, if my body dies, then my book will basically store me away until I can be reconstructed. Of course, if during that time my book is destroyed, then I die." Natsu finished.

"Natsu…" Lucy mumbled, now realising that the man she loved would live longer than her, he would outlive everyone unless his book was destroyed, destined to eternity knowing that he would watch everyone grow old.

"I can tell what your thinking Lucy, and it's not technically like that, see while my soul is immortal, my body is very much mortal. I'll still get older, that's why I look like this now, if I didn't age, then I would still be a 5 year old child"

Everyone was quiet, taking in this information.

"Now where is that meal" Natsu said, his stomach grumbling loudly "I'm starving"

While everyone knew that Natsu was different, he was still very much the same. And after everything they'd been through that day, all of their hardships, there was only one thing to do.

"It's time to party!" Makerov yelled, as the wizards all converged on the guild hall, which had miraculously remained standing despite the majority of the town having been obliterated.

Natsu smiled to himself, as he stood to follow the others, with Lucy still clinging to him and not wanting to let go, and Lisanna stood on his other side, one of her hands entwined with his, he was happy.

Happy to be home.

And while he knew the future would be difficult, he was happy to spend this time just enjoying the moment.

And, as the sun began to set that day. Natsu uttered those well known words, with his scarf wrapped securely around his neck he grinned.

"I'm all fired up now!"


End file.
